#Hospital – August 3, 2015

Damien yawns, flicking through yet another holoseries on his omnitool in sheer boredom. His beard is slightly fuller than when he left for the mission and his patients gown is knotted on the right sleeve where his arm used to be. Whilst the room is shared, there is only a single other occupant in the far corner. Damien's bed sits closest to the door.

Leah finishes speaking to a nurse who points her down the hall to the door on the right. She slowly rolls her way over, bumping into the doorframe loudly before getting the wheel of her chair through the door. "Shit!" she exclaims and her cheeks visibly redden. She's dressed in a pair of jeans and a light blue t-shirt with the same clunky black boots she always wears. Her hair is pulled

Damien jumps at the sudden exclamation, turning towards the doorway. As Leah rolls in, he smiles faintly and inclines his head to her. "Hey," he echoes. "Well, at least you got a choice in clothing." He indicates at her with his only hand, the omni-tool still glowing around his arm.

Leah glances down at her lap and shrugs her shoulders. "My dad brought 'em for me. Wasn't going to wal-..." she sighs and scrunches up her nose, "Wasn't going to roll around in those disgusting things." she says with a nod at Damien. "Gross. Don't you wonder how many people have worn that thing before you? How many people have shit themselves in it? No thanks."

Damien shivers at the thought

Damien sighs, deactivating his omni-tool. "So... Probably a stupid question, but how're you doing? Any news?"

Leah wheels up beside the bed, struggling for a moment to properly angle herself beside it. "Should be dancing again by next week." she says. She bites her lip for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh, "Actually... No idea. Just a whole lot of tests and they're not telling me anything. Which is usually a bad sign. Figured in the mean time I could come down here and see if you needed

Damien stares at Leah for a few pregnant moments. He quietly chuckles, shaking his head with a small grin. "Thanks," he says, awkwardly pushing himself upright with his hand. "I'd extend the offer to you, but you usually need two hands to push a wheelchair about." He falls quiet for a few moments, looking off awkwardly to the side. "What do you think? About your chances?"

Leah reaches down and rubs at her knee for a few moments. "Can't feel anything." she admits with a sigh. Her eyes lower towards the ground for a few moments. "I don't know. I'm guessing they're not good. The worst part is that nobody is acknowledging it. If it was good news, they would've already told me. So that means that all these tests are probably just to confirm what they already

Damien sighs, shifting over on his bed to gingerly place a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry," he says, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Maybe if you run over enough toes you'll get an answer?"

Leah reaches up and pats his hand and gives a slight chuckle at his joke. "Been doing enough of that just trying to figure out how to use this stupid thing. Anyway, I've done enough whining. How are you doing?" she asks, "I... would've come to visit you sooner. I was just waiting until I could walk in here on my own two feet. Guess I finally admitted to myself that may not happen."

Damien removes his hand and places it back beside him, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "As well as I can be," he admits, giving his stump a slight wiggle, almost comedic. "The replacement has already been decided, so it's just a matter of waiting." He looks over to her and tries to give her his best reassuring smile. "Well, apart from the doc, you're the first to visit me. So the fact you came at all...".

Leah rolls her eyes at the stump wiggle, but a smile escapes. "Well it took me nearly twenty minutes to get my pants on, I damn sure wasn't going to waste it by sitting in my room all day." She fiddles with the wheels of her chair for a moment in an attempt at better re-aligning herself to face Damien. "So. Replacement?" she asks, glancing over at his stump, "How long does it take to clone

Damien smirks. "How courageous of you." He pauses for a few moments before answering. "It's not going to be organic."

Leah raises an eyebrow. "...Any specific reason?" she asks, not wanting to pry, "If you don't want to talk about it, I understand."

Damien shrugs, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I was getting tired of losing arm wrestling matches, so I thought why the hell not?" He deadpans, looking Leah straight in the eyes.

Leah returns the stare, blinking a few times. "That's not funny, Monroe." she says with a sigh, "Isn't Redrock going to pay for it? They damn well better be!"

Damien rolls his eyes. "I was told they are," he says. "And if not... I may be able to pull a few strings with some old contacts. But I think you warrant a tad more attention than the one armed wonder here."

Damien pinches the bridge of his nose. "Because I don't want the real thing," he admits after a few moments. "My reasons are my own for it. No offence."

Leah sits back in her chair a bit, lowering her gaze to her knees. She nods slowly. "Right.... Of course." she continues to nod, "Sorry I asked. It's none of my business. Do whatever's best for you." she says coldly.

Damien falls silent, staring at the end of his bed. "Because I'm not strong enough...". He says quietly. He keeps his gaze firmly fixed at the end of his bed as he speaks. "It sounds stupid, I know. But if I had been stronger, Vaden wouldn't have died... He needn't have died for me...". He shakes his head, grunting. "And now listen to me! Moping over some salarian I barely knew." The last sentence held little

Damien - conviction in his voice.

Leah continues to stare at her knees as she speaks, "Vaden's death was nobody's fault, Monroe. Not yours. Not mine... I know it doesn't make things any easier, but there was nothing any of us could've done." she says, doing her best to sound convincing despite whether or not she actually means it, "We almost died back there." she sighs. She looks up at him and places a hand over his, giving

Leah sighs and pulls her hand back, "No... But I'm glad he did." she admits, "So what does that say about me?" She shrugs her shoulders and reaches up to rub at her eyes, "Vaden was a good person. I haven't met many salarians. He was definitely a credit to his people... But-..." she nods a couple times, glancing over at Damien, "I'm glad it was him and not you."

Damien peers up, quirking an eyebrow at Leah. "Asking the wrong person," he says slowly. He does nod at her, however reluctant it is. "Suppose moping about it isn't accomplishing anything. I shouldn't waste what he gave me." He cracks a slight smile.

Leah gives a stern nod. "Exactly... Besides," she continues, glancing down at her legs with a frown, "I have a feeling I'm gonna be moping enough for the both of us. Suppose I should start browsing the extranet for a new job..."

Damien glances down at her legs too. "You'll be alright," he says, turning his gaze back to her. "You'll just need to be transported to Citadel space to get your legs fixed. You'll be kicking the crap outta people before you know it."

Damien chuckles briefly alongside her, though he falls silent as she does. "It probably is with the tech around here," he admits reluctantly. "Unless Jason somehow manages to score something huge... Bah, it'll be fine." He waves his hand with much more confidence than he's feeling.

Leah gives another stern nod. "Absolutely. And if memory serves me right, you still owe me a drink. Legs or no legs, I collect on what's owed to me!" she says with a smirk.

Damien gives a slightly dramatic sigh. "Damn it, was hoping you forgot about that!" He groans, though a grin plays at the corners of his mouth. "Suppose I have no choice in the matter...".

Leah gives Monroe a wink. "Nope. But for now, I should probably get back so I can do whatever bullshit they've got in store for me today. But I'll be back. And if they release you before I get a chance to, you better let me know!" she insists.

Damien salutes her, cracking a full smile, the first he's had since before the mission. "Yessir! Take care of yourself, Leah."

Leah leans over and gives him a slight shove. "Yeah, yeah. You too." she says. She attempts to make a cool exit, using her biotics to push herself to the door, but it doesn't take long before it's clear that she's going right into a wall and she grabs ahold of the wheels to lighten the impact. She doesn't bother looking back as she reorients herself, face bright red, and wheels herself

Damien gives her the courtesy of pretending not to see the latter half of her antics, leaning back into his pillow with a slight shake of his head.